Benton VB camp breaks record

BENTON – Coach Michelle Shoppach and the Benton Lady Panthers volleyball team hosted over 200 campers at the annual Lady Panther Volleyball Camp this past Tuesday and Wednesday at Benton High School. While getting close to 200 campers in past years, this season broke a record surpassing that number.

“We have over 200,” Shoppach said at the camp. “We’re even talking about we’re having to cap it just because of gym space and everything, and able to have enough people to work it.”

Not only does Shoppach want these younger generation volleyball players to learn the sport, but she also wants to open their eyes to the world of athletics in general. Benton is perfect for that, according to the coach.

“We have second grade through ninth grade and what we hope is the kids learn volleyball, no doubt, but we hope they learn a love of athletics, and we think we have that here at Benton,” Shoppach said. “Look at what we have going with conference championships: Softball (which played in the state title game Saturday night), track, volleyball, basketball that went to state, bowling won conference, cheer goes to nationals. We have a lot of teams that do very well. We have a lot going on with girls athletics in Benton.”

And not only do the campers learn more about the sport and athletics, the Lady Panthers, too, get a preview to what the future may hold.

“It’s not just the little kids that get stuff out of this … information, a love for sports … it’s my high school athletes that actually find out they can teach,” Shoppach said. “They know more about the sport than they thought they had. A lot of them find out they may want to be a teacher or a coach on down the road when they thought they had no interest at all.”

The Lady Panthers gear up for another fall season after going 28-5 and earning 5A state runner-up honors.